My Hiatus
I know, you thought I'd abandoned you and all my hard, wog-a-licious work. Alas, I did not. Rather, life happened and things like my birthday, a trip to Austin, etc. came in the way of my bloggin' - but not my woggin'! Nope, I slowed down for two weeks but I didn't stop. So here is my Back Log of Wogs...
Week Two, Day Three
Date: April 5, 2011
Weight: I think -1.0
Weather: brisk and chilly!
Program: Alternate jogging 90-seconds and walking two minutes for 20 minutes, with five minute warm-up and cool down walk.
I will start out by telling you that I had every single intention of woggin' while I was in Austin. Though it's hotter there, I figured I could get up around 8am, since Manfriend gets stir crazy around that time anyway, and take a morning tour up 6th Street (which is super fun, btw.) I packed my Nikes, stretchy pants, sports bra (gotta contain these bad boys!) and arm band with full intentions of doing Week 2.2.
Did I? Nope.
All these fun activities came up. Things like eating and napping. These things are GREAT, but only appropriate reasons to skip a wog while on vacation. When I came home, the reality set in that while all you can eat, authentic Texas BBQ is a fantastic idea, your pants don't really appreciate it...which is when my stretchy pants came into use. Thank you stretchy pants!
We had a lay over in Denver, and I started feeling a bit guilty that I hadn't wogged. I contemplated putting my tennis shoes on, and woggin' the length of our Gate a few times while holding a boarding pass. Assuming people would just think of me as the girl that was about to miss her flight, oddly with no luggage. Regardless, the idea was just that, an idea, that never came to fruition.
Rather, when I got home, a good friend of mine and I decided to go for a jog together. Yep, I said a jog, because even though it was a wog said friend is also a fitness teacher. And she definitely encouraged me to keep my pace up! It was awesome. I will be enlisting her services soon enough, but some of the wogs to come needed to be conquered on a personal level.
Week Three, Day One
Date: April 8, 2011
Weight: stopped keeping track.
Weather: clear skies!
Program: Jog 90-seconds, walk 90-seconds (twice), then jog three minutes and walk three minutes, with five minute warm-up and cool down walk.
Get this, I woke up to go for a wog ON MY BIRTHDAY.
In the morning. On a Friday. Which I took off work - therefore, a vacation day.
Before a day of planned activities - including a spa day, and Mariner's game.
All of which included some form of booze.
If it didn't get done Friday am, it wasn't going to get done all weekend. So this really left me no option but to get my butt up and out the door before being somewhere at 9:45am. And did I do it? You bet I did. And it felt good knowing that I started my day empowering myself with a few extra calories in my pocket and another complete day check-marked off my list!
Week Three, Day Three
Date: April 13, 2011
Weather: clear skies! but JUST for my wog.
Program: Jog 90-seconds, walk 90-seconds (twice), then jog three minutes and walk three minutes, with five minute warm-up and cool down walk.
Here's the crazy thing, before I started this program I swore up and down, left and right, and twice a day that I didn't have the time for a workout.
Too busy. Not enough time. Other priorities that aren't cardio workouts.
One of these "other priorities" included a minimum of one happy hour a week...because who doesn't love discounted foods drenched in melted cheese washed down with carbonated calories?
Uh, your body, that's who. All those calories go straight to your ass/stomach/arms/ass and are never countered by exercise, unless your an exercise freak, in which case you can bite me. (And if you do, go for the stomach, I bet you can find a chicken wing or some nachos...)
My point is, I was never self-motivated to go for a work out. I always found something better than pushing myself. It took a trainer, or a class, or a girlfriend, to get me going. Independent work outs were just not my thing.
But now, I found ways to ensure I get my wog in. It's only 30-minutes, forty tops if I am too far from home and have to walk a bit further. On this particular day, I had a planned happy hour/dinner with manfriend and one of our good friends. Rather than skipping my wog to get there in time, I asked if we could push the time back so I could fit it it.
The boys had no problem with this. And I earned myself an extra 200-calories to spend on steak and beer! Yay me!
Week Four, Day One
Date: April 15, 2011
Weather:
Program: Run three minutes, walk 90 seconds, run five minutes, walk two minutes and thirty seconds, run three minutes, walk 90 seconds, run five minutes, with five minute warm-up and cool down walk.
I like running on Friday's. Especially after work. I have found it to be empowering. It makes me feel that much more energized and full of endorphins knowing that not only did I complete a day of my training, but I did so on a Friday. A day I would much rather go home, flop on the couch and eat potato chips.
But instead of doing that, I am running...in public, where people can see me. The Friday afternoon wog is an extra boost, proving my dedication to the program and also that maybe, JUST MAYBE, I am becoming more of a runner every day.
On this particular day, I even squeezed my wog in before date night with manfriend. Once again, I counteracted predicted consumed calories with a planned wog and stuck to it!
Week four was the start of things getting harder. Running five minutes feels like running for twenty in my mind. And there were times when I wanted to quit, walk for 30-seconds or just flat out stop. Instead of quitting, I slowed my pace and took some deep breaths. Reminded myself that I was in this for the long haul, and five minutes (probably) wouldn't kill me.
And hey, this time, it didn't.
Week Four, Day Two
Date: April 18, 2011
Weather:
Program: Run three minutes, walk 90 seconds, run five minutes, walk two minutes and thirty seconds, run three minutes, walk 90 seconds, run five minutes, with five minute warm-up and cool down walk.
AGAIN, I get my wog in before a social event. My weight isn't decreasing by numbers I can report back to you - yet I can say, that it's not about the number frustration. It's about the fact that I ran for a cumulative 16-minutes! If that seems easy to you, I give you props. For a girl that has been self-defined as "not a runner," that's pretty big news! :)
I once read that runners' lungs are susceptible to things in the air - like cigarette smoke. And that the inhalation while running can be not only distracting but also difficult on the lungs. While I do believe this to be true, I can say with 100% certainty that odors that distract me while running usually contain some sort of "buffalo" type spice. Y'know, buffalo wings, chicken strips...almost any type of bar food. And if I could follow that scent, I probably would.
Week Four, Day Three
Date: April 18, 2011
Weather: chilly! super chilly!
Program: Run three minutes, walk 90 seconds, run five minutes, walk two minutes and thirty seconds, run three minutes, walk 90 seconds, run five minutes, with five minute warm-up and cool down walk.
Ok, Couch to 5k. You almost had me. You ALMOST got me. The third day of week four was brutal. It was very chilly outside, but no rain. I had grabbed my Gap puffy vest for post-wog warmth not realizing that I would need it for my wog. It was so nippy, that I wore it over my already two layers.
Not only did the cold air mean a runny nose, but it also meant tight lungs. The first three minutes I forgot the program, and once I heard the "beep, walk now" I thought I'd done five minutes.
WRONG.
So, that was a little discouraging. Grudgingly I kept it up. Running past my old neighborhood, and remember how I had try to run this same way in high school but couldn't/wouldn't. My C25K app beeped again, and I was off, at a bit of a slower pace - however I felt my lungs starting to relax a bit (seriously, only a bit, because they were still tight!) and my quads definitely loosened as they warmed up.
By my third stint of running (or the second three minute set) I was ready to be done. I knew geographically where I was, and that if I strayed my course it meant a very dramatically inclined hill. Either way my butt was going to get winded, so it better be the way I planned - dontcha think?
I struggled the last five minutes of the run. I toyed with the idea of a new sports-related asthma enhaler, stopping and calling for a ride home. I endured. Again, at a slower pace that I had started, but at a pace no less. I was determined to finish out Week 4 - and I did!
That means you can too, you know.
